Yeshu

The most significant point being that the normal equalization in a biological system is kept up. This parity might be upset because of the presentation of new species, the abrupt demise of certain species, characteristic dangers or man-made causes. In this field trip we will investigate how human populace and advancement influences the biological parity. Set aside effort to investigate this site as your portal to the universe of nature. It has fascinating articles and realities. There are highlights, for example, the Environmental Timeline that shows how there were various worries about nature all through istory.The ecological effect of war is an intriguing article on how arrangement of war and fighting prompts ecological misfortunes. The mass bombarding of the lavish green woodlands during the Vietnam war prompted the loss of territory of numerous species. Extraordinary highlights on populace and the earth show how populace has expanded from the modern age and how it will influence nature. There are extra assets for higher classes. For the sake of advancement, we evacuate trees and vegetation, change how we use and, and continue extending cleared areas.All these influence the dirt nature, yet in addition the water balance. Expanded urbanization likewise requires more water to take care of the city's populace and industry, regularly requiring further and more profound wells to be penetrated or water to be moved from considerably increasingly inaccessible areas. Increment of asphalt territory not desolate decreases the measure of water fume that happens once again from the vegetation yet in addition adds to groundwater contamination if the salt used to soften street ice were permitted to overflow into the regular seepage system.Visit this site for an itemized take a gander at water as a valuable asset and how human advancement influences water and its biological system. It is devoted to Water Day. To see how human populace and expanded formative exercises influe nce the biological system, there are live models everywhere throughout the world. Armenia is one such case of what is befalling the biological system as a result of expanded populace and formative exercises. In the course of the most recent 1,000 years human effects on the land have expanded, for the most part through deforestation and expanded utilization of pastures.Such issues have heightened over late years with phenomenal populace development and urbanization since 1920, bringing about expanded human effects on singular species, yet additionally on entire biological systems. Peruse the article on this site and you will deliberately get mindful of what unchecked mechanical turn of events and urbanization could do to your district. The quick pace of improvement has prompted numerous undesirable outcomes. Extraordinary species get crushed tester than we can find them and old biological systems are getting isturbed in our logical explorations.Find out about astonishing realities on human effect on seas, poisons, and substantially more as you investigate this webpage for ecological instruction on the web. It is structured fundamentally for kids, yet the highlights and articles are acceptable perusing for any evaluation. There are additionally convenient tips on what you can never really secure the earth and thoughts on how you can begin an environment club in your neighborhood. Visit the assets given on the Ecology and incredible Links pages to find out about this science.

Evaluate the argument that global crime has grown significantly over Essay

Assess the contention that worldwide wrongdoing has become fundamentally in the course of the most recent two decades, and layout any effect of globalization process - Essay Example These incorporate medications such cocaine which is gathered in the wildernesses of Columbia before it advances toward the urban areas of London, New York and Paris. In Afghanistan, the poppies of this nation are collected, sent to heroin preparing plants in Eastern Europe before they locate their home in the veins of Western Europeans and North Americans. Notwithstanding the globalization of medications and the internationalization of opiates, globalization has expanded the episodes of theft, fake products and organ dealing. Maybe most treacherously, globalization has prepared for a universal traffic in individuals which includes the sneaking of exiles notwithstanding the worldwide traffic of ladies. While a few ladies are dealt to fill in as household workers or as vagrant workers, the larger part are sold into sexual subjugation and exist as 21st century slaves. While global robbery, the spread of universal fake products and organ dealing are generally intriguing subjects the inve stigation from a sociological point of view considering the internationalization of wrongdoing, because of the constrained extent of this examination the accompanying will center upon the worldwide traffic of ladies just as the internationalization of medications. Since the worldwide traffic of ladies for sexual bondage is maybe one of the most treacherous results of the globalization development, the accompanying will start with an outline of this exploitative exchange. The transnationalisation of wrongdoing has expanded in the 21st century. Complex monetary association has expanded the roads for hoodlums trying to misuse the global financial framework and make systems for their criminal undertakings. To state that the transnationalisation of wrongdoing exists today isn't to state that it didn't exist already. A significant number of the violations which are being completed every single day existed a century back in Western Europe and the well off nations in

Free-est post!

Free-est post! In the hassle of getting my life and graduation requirements together, I almost forgot to take advantage of my (last :/) biannual free post: what am I doing this semester? MIT has many urban horror stories about students struggling to graduate on time for the dumbest possible reasons: taking all of their GIRs second semester senior year because they didnt spread them out, realizing they forgot about the swim requirement a day before graduation, or belatedly discovering that one humanities class didnt count toward the requirement they thought it did. One alum I worked for told me that he convinced the EECS department to let him take his GIRs during his MEng, because he spent all of his undergrad years taking fancy high-level classes. Sometimes, students just punish themselves intentionally by taking eight classes a semester so they can graduate in two years, or get nonexistent triple majors, orfor fun. (Theres no credit limit for freshmen with sophomore standing or upperclassmen; the only bound is your sanity.) Heres the anticlimax: I am not one of those people. (Unless something has gone horribly wrong.) My courseload: 6.851: (Grad) Advanced Data Structures, taught by Erik Demaine, who became an MIT professor at age 20. He frequently cites his own papers in lecture, and we have optional, weekly open problem solving sessions, which is kind of intimidating. I say that a lot. I mean, other professors have (jokingly?) put open problems as extra credit on problem sets, so its nice that ours are just completely for fun. This class is my official substitution for 6.006, which I need to complete my major, so the downer is that I cant drop it when catastrophe strikes. Its been fun so far, though. Seemingly half the CS/math majors I know are in this class, including a 14 down my line of succession from my high school robotics club, and an ex-IOI freshman on my hall. Small world! 21M.380: Recording Techniques and Audio Production  is one of those very cool, random, ultra-pragmatic classes that pops up at MIT every once in a while. The assignments so far have consisted of close, detailed listening to songs of our choice, and analyses on how they were mixed. The lectures are refreshingly less theoretical than the average MIT class; instead of generalized, abstracted equations, the lecturer shows us interesting psychoacoustics trivia and heuristics that are useful to know off the top of your head when doing audio production; for example: a bass drums frequency is usually around 60Hz, so its wavelength is about 18 feet long human ears start perceiving time offsets as reverberation after 20-30ms, and it takes sound about 0.89ms to travel a foot, so do the math before recording in big rooms since the ability to understand human vocalizations was obviously beneficial when we developed speech, human ears are heavily biased toward frequencies representative of human speech and will in fact perceive them as significantly louder than frequencies outside that range I keep getting distracted by curiosity about various physics-based/biological/statistical generalizations of what we learn. Mostly, the teacher gives us demos (listening and generating lots of noises and signals in different contexts, through filters, et cetera) and enough theory to internalize them. Incidentally, this class completes my four-subject humanities concentration in music. 6.UAP: THESIS. Every engineering major has a thesis, although most use a heavy-duty lab class in lieu of an independent project / research paper; Course VI is one of the few with an open-ended thesis project. Im doing some sentiment analysis with the Media Labs Digital Intuition group, which does a lot of neat natural language processing that I didnt really know was possible, using a project called ConceptNet that theyve open-sourced and collaborated on with universities in several countries. It has a basic web interface and an API that lets you access a massive semantic graph (hypergraph, rather) about words and concepts in several languages. Since everythings open-source, you can go play with it if youre curious. non-credit At only 30 units, Im light-loading this semester, which means I get a tuition discount! The classes listed above are all I need to graduate, so Im casually following along (without enrolling) in MAS.S60: Practical Natural Language Processing, incidentally taught by my thesis advisor. In junior fall, I took a similar but more rigorous and theory-heavy class,  6.864: (Grad) Advanced Natural Language Processing. Im poking through the MAS.S60 material because it has coding labs in lieu of enormous mathy problem sets, and while 6.864 was fun, I didnt get to actually implement code until the final project. Im also taking an introductory animation workshop through the Student Art Association, which organizes extracurricular art classes that serve as practical alternatives to the tempting logistical nightmare of crossregistering at and commuting to MassArt. Today, we jumped right in and started making cyclic hand-drawn animations. is this not enough for you I have five sessions of job interviews in the next two weeks. Three of them span half a day. No comment. In case it wasnt obvious, the underlined text in this post contains useful alt-text.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Admissions

Admissions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania are generally open--around nine out of every ten  applicants are accepted each year. Students can apply online or on paper, and will also need to submit scores from the SAT or ACT and high school transcripts. Be sure to check out the schools website for more information, including important deadlines. Admissions Data (2016) Indiana University of Pennsylvania Acceptance Rate: 92%Test Scores -- 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 420 / 530SAT Math: 420 / 520SAT Writing: - / -(what these SAT numbers mean)ACT Composite: 17  / 23ACT English: 15 / 23ACT Math: 17  / 23(what these ACT numbers mean) Indiana University of Pennsylvania Description Founded in 1875 as Indiana Normal School, Indiana University of Pennsylvania is now a large public university that offers 145 undergraduate degree programs and 71 graduate programs. The University frequently receives national recognition for its educational value. IUP is made up of numerous colleges and schools with the College of Health and Human Services having the highest undergraduate enrollment. Student life is active with over 220 student organizations including 18 fraternities and 14 sororities. In athletics, IUP competes in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division II level. Enrollment (2016) Total Enrollment: 12,971  (10,743 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 44% Male / 56% Female93% Full-time Costs (2016  - 17) Tuition and Fees: $11,368  (in-state); $22,377 (out-of-state)Books: $1,100 (why so much?)Room and Board: $12,246Other Expenses: $2,288Total Cost: $27,002  (in-state); $38,011 (out-of-state) Indiana University of Pennsylvania Financial Aid (2015 - 16) Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 91%Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 65%Loans: 80%Average Amount of AidGrants: $6,753Loans: $8,367 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors:  Business Administration, Communication Studies, Criminology, Elementary Education, Health and Physical Education, Marketing, Nursing Graduation and Retention Rates First-Year Student Retention (full-time students): 75%Transfer-out Rate: 30%4-Year Graduation Rate: 37%6-Year Graduation Rate: 54% Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports:  Track and Field, Swimming, Baseball, Football, Golf, Cross Country, BasketballWomens Sports:  Basketball, Swimming, Field Hockey, Volleyball, Track and Field, Soccer, Lacrosse, Cross Country Data Source National Center for Educational Statistics If You Like Indiana University of Pennsylvania, You May Also Like These Schools Clarion University: Profile  Duquesne University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Pittsburgh: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDrexel University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDelaware State University: Profile  Lock Haven University: Profile  Seton Hill University: Profile  Temple University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphWest Virginia University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphRobert Morris University: Profile  Edinboro University of Pennsylvania: Profile  Slippery Rock University: Profile  Pennsylvania State University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph Indiana University of Pennsylvania Mission Statement read the complete mission statement at  http://www.iup.edu/upper.aspx?id2065 Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a leading public, doctoral/research university, strongly committed to undergraduate and graduate instruction, scholarship, and public service. Indiana University of Pennsylvania engages students as learners and leaders in an intellectually challenging, culturally enriched, and contemporarily diverse environment...

Zircon, Zirconia, Zirconium Minerals

Zircon may seem a bit drab next to those infomercials for cheap cubic zirconia jewelry. The zirconium minerals are a serious bunch. Zircon Zircon makes a nice gem but its out of favor these days. Zircon—zirconium silicate or ZrSiO4—is a hard stone, ranking 7 ½ on the Mohs scale, but other stones are harder and its colors arent unique. Tradition has a slim dossier on zircon; one site says that it was reputed to aid sleep, bring prosperity, and promote honor and wisdom, but hey, just having the money to own jewels is good for that. It does have some minor mineralogical distinctions. Its the only gem in the tetragonal crystal class, for what that is worth. And its the densest of the major gemstones, but that means a zircon of a given carat weight is smaller than any other gem of equal weight. Maybe zircon can gain more respect if we look at its value to geologists. Zircon grains occur almost everywhere there are sediments because the mineral is so tough. It rises through the crust in igneous rocks and is eroded into the stream system, washed out to sea, and laid down in the sediment beds where it becomes part of the next cycle of sandstone and shale—totally unaffected! Zircon is the ultimate geological recyclable; it can even endure metamorphism. That makes it a great indicator mineral. If you find it in granite in one place, and in a sandstone somewhere else, you have learned something about the geologic history and geographic setting that brought the zircons from the first to the second place. The other thing about zircon is its impurities, especially uranium. The uranium-lead (U-Pb) system of dating rocks has been refined to great accuracy, and U-Pb zircon dating is now a precise tool for rocks as old as Earth itself, some 4.6 billion years. Zircon is good for this because it holds these elements tightly. Zircon is usually pronounced ZURKn, although you also hear ZUR-KON. Zirconia/Baddeleyite Cubic zirconia or CZ is known as a fake diamond, but I think it should instead be considered a superior zircon. CZ is a manufactured oxide compound, ZrO2, not a silicate, and zirconia is a chemical name, not a mineral name. There is a naturally occurring form of zirconia, called baddeleyite. The difference between baddeleyite and CZ is the way the zirconium and oxygen atoms are packed: the mineral is a monoclinic  crystal and the gem is cubic (isometric), the same crystal structure as diamond. That makes CZ extremely hard—only diamond, sapphire, and chrysoberyl can scratch it. The United States stockpiles over 14,000 tonnes of baddeleyite for its zirconium content. Like zircon, it is useful for dating extremely old rocks, though unlike zircon its use is limited to igneous rocks. Baddeleyite is pronounced ba-DELLY-ite by most geologists, but those who know better pronounce it BAD-ly-ite. Zirconolite Zirconolite, CaZrTi2O7, is neither a silicate nor an oxide but rather a titanate. In 2004 it was reported to be even better for dating old rocks than zircon, yielding data as precise as the SHRIMP (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe) instrument allows. Zirconolite, though rare, may be widespread in igneous rocks but not recognized because it resembles rutile. The way to identify it for sure is by using specialized electron microscopy techniques on the tiny grains before deploying the SHRIMP on them. But these techniques can derive a date from a grain only 10 microns wide. Zirconolite is pronounced zir-CONE-alite. The Geologists Gem To get an idea of what people can do with zircons, consider what researcher Larry Heaman did, as reported in the April 1997 Geology. Heaman extracted zircon (and baddeleyite) from a set of ancient Canadian dikes, getting less than a milligram from 49 kilograms of rock. From these specks, less than 40 microns long, he derived a U-Pb age for the dike swarm of 2.4458 billion years (plus or minus a couple million), just after the close of the Archean Eon in earliest Proterozoic time. From that evidence he reassembled two big chunks of ancient North America, tucking the Wyoming terrane underneath the Superior terrane, then joined them to Karelia, the terrane underlying Finland and adjacent Russia. He called his results evidence of the worlds earliest episode of flood-basalt volcanism or Large Igneous Province (LIP). Heaman capped himself by speculating that the first LIP could reflect either (1) the waning of a vigorous mantle convection regime that prevailed during the Archean and completely dissipated mantle plumes for more than half of Earths history, or (2) the time of catastrophic collapse of a stable density stratification in the Earths core that led to a sudden increase in heat flux at the core-mantle boundary. This is a lot to get out of a few tiny bits of zircon and baddeleyite. PS: The oldest object on Earth is a grain of zircon thats nearly 4.4 billion years old. Its the only thing we have from deep in the earliest Archean, and it provides evidence that even at that time, Earth had liquid water on it.

Leadership, education and diversity Free Essays

string(68) " for languages to correct the past inequity in schools and society\." The ever changing demographics undoubtedly have both current and future Impacts on education system. The Increased diversity can Impact the society either positively or negatively thus knowledge and capacity should be developed for education leadership that is one of the most diversified sectors of the society. It is encountered in various fronts and categories revolving around: organization, individual and program levels. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership, education and diversity or any similar topic only for you Order Now In multicultural settings, mechanisms exist to ensure social Justice without any form of discrimination. In the contemporary world, leadership is viewed s an Interactive social process despite Its complexity. The dynamic leadership approaches require Informed and Inclusive mechanisms to ensure success of the system. Leadership plays a critical role either in practice, theory or research thus it is expected that it influences the lives of a diverse group of people. In a given context like a learning institution or organization, leadership models ought to reflect that the members are both leaders and followers in spite of being distinct (Bishop, 2005). Educators regardless of their racial and cultural associations need to be equipped tit competencies and pedagogies to effectively manage the dynamic population of students. Native teachers have their own cultural affiliations which coupled with unique personal stories, form a basis in creating a general mix of a school’s diversity. Teachers can best establish an inclusive and comfortable learning environment if their leaders use engagement strategies that are nonjudgmental. It should be acknowledged that racial, cultural, and economic differences exist and have an impact on the education system. Brown (2004) explains that the transformation learning, adult learning and critical social theories are significant In Increasing installation and action plans In preparing transformation leaders. The theories are closely interrelated with the three the three pedagogical strategies of critical reflection, rational discourse, and policy praxis. LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY 3 The other strategy is to establish the need for both personal and professional progress. Brainstorming sessions and retreats by educators and leaders create a climate of constructive discussions and builds mutual trust necessary for solving the crisis. There is sensitivity and respect for diversity coupled with team building capacity in teamwork. Educating all leaders on the essence of integrating a diverse composition of the organization Is necessary for achieving the goals and objectives. From a critical perspective, the insights to be discussed will present effective approaches to address challenges encountered in preparing education leaders dedicated to ensuring social Justice and equity. Factors that form the basis for delimitation such as race, gender, sexual-orientation and dillydally require social justice educational leadership. Leaders should embrace accountability in their systems and encourage all to create a diverse and inclusive work environment. Citizens in a particular country should recognize the diversity in all aspects of cultural, political, economic, and social life. Embracing diversity normally poses a the population. Multiculturalism goes beyond ethnicity. Despite the efforts to assimilate culture and heritage, there have been intact community Ethan-cultural institutions, structures, and characteristics. We all have different sub-cultures thus multiple identities. Demographic variation implies that social beings tend to associate themselves with certain ethnic group or identity. However, other people may not exclusively give emphasis to their ethnic background. Similarly, others are not minding to identify themselves with gender, social class or sexual orientation. Multi-ethnic identities have become common due to intermarriages and migration. It is important to motivate learners to explore and define their own identities (McDonald, 2009). LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY 4 However, as far as am concerned, issues to deal with cultural incompetence of leaders posed a great challenge both in social life and performance in a multicultural environment. This creates a bias and discrimination by leaders towards their objects. In addition, it seems inappropriate dominant social group members derive comfort, social, economic and political satisfaction at the expense of the less fortunate in the society. The low-status groups endure suffering ranging from poverty, disease to ignorance. Although the extent of hierarchical organization may vary over a period across societies and within the same society, such approaches still find a way in the modern society. Discrimination of the different nature in institutions is very rampant especially in hiring, promoting staff or delivering court Judgments. Poor leadership is known to perpetrate favoritism such as in distribution of resources. It is worth mentioning that I have had to encounter the chauvinistic society given my social and gender identity. Despite the civilization and the aspects of having earned a decent education, there are still some prejudice in terms of group segregation and gender roles. It is expected that even in a diversified society, women are obliged to provide care to children and cook for their families. Another unclear issue is the influence of race and ethnicity of teachers on the learners. Patterns of discrimination ND prejudice may be difficult to identify by leaders in a systemic manner as well as their impact on institutions and society in general. Transformation school leaders identify and deal with contextual issues thus ensuring a Just learning environment for building a holistic individual. This implies that the challenge in the system that deprives the marginalia learners of the right to be heard is overcome. Students are viewed as subjects and not objects in the pedagogical approach. LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY 5 Educators have been urged to acknowledge the great diversity among the student population to avoid normalization and oppression of those of a different race, gender, social class or sexual orientation (Kashmir, 2000). Ann-oppressive education involves selectivity’s and dealing with the crisis critically. In retrospect, by promoting multicultural education, diversity is enhanced thus the stakeholders should be inclusive to foster social integration. Democratically multiracial societies or nations should foster coexistence because unity and diversity have cross-linkages. Planning curriculum for schools in a multicultural nation should be inclusive of both advocates for cooperation, mutual respect, the dignity of persons and social rights. Linguistic diversity is another aspect that cannot be ignored. Therefore, leadership needs to promote affirmative action for languages to correct the past inequity in schools and society. You read "Leadership, education and diversity" in category "Papers" Educational policies that entail an inclusive curricula should be formulated and implemented. This will serve as a reflection of diversity and equity in the allocation of resources. Schools play a role as agents of colonization in the society thus conceptual approaches to put up with cultural diversity. In addition, issues to do tit staffing should be handled in a manner to ensure that there is heterogeneity. Kashmir (2000) observes anti-oppressive education can be conceptualized by considering these approaches: nature of oppression, pedagogies, curricula and policies. It is prudent that the education system should embrace assassination of learners on human rights and how the codes take effect in multicultural societies. Learners should be aware of social Justice even in their learning environment so that they can relate effectively to the outside world. There should be a guide and strategies to encourage respect, concern and care for self, colleagues, LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY 6 organisms and the environment. The curriculum can be reorganized to enhance its effectiveness, but also emphasis needs to be given to traditional education systems. The issue of equity when integrated with leadership development programs is capable of supporting an interactive learning process and consequently promotes equity in school practice. Eventually, personality will have a significant effect on life- span development. Educators should be aware of the current generation of learners who may not perform concrete-operational and formal-operational assignments. Education plays a critical role in building the intellectual capacity of an individual. Numerous scholars have given great and in depth analysis of the education systems in all corners of the world. Substantive changes in preparation and professional development programs need to be adopted to ensure an accountable and socially equitable learning process both in the present and future (Brown, 2004). In view of the theory of androgyny as documented by Malcolm Knowles presents concepts that shaped and builds the learner (Merriam et al. 2007). A learner takes control of the learning process and uses disoriented approaches of life. However, the learning process and approaches have its shortcomings: the multi-cultural and multivalent learning environment pose a challenge especially for immigrants. There are expectations from instructors in the way learners behave, relate to fellow learners and also the assumption of certain responsibilities. At times, instructors may use negative criticism in public oblivious of the embarrassment thus lowering the morale to learn. Self-Directed Learning approach requires a determination to take charge of one’s own learning process owing to the motivation and desire to achieve academic and career goals. In addition, I should improve the family life, health, and enhance my intellectual capacity among others. It effective because it is aligned with daily routines, there enthusiasm about the LEADERSHIP, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY 7 process, there is interaction with others and also the process is reflective and action oriented. Unfortunately, the process can be ineffective and cumbersome due to: relationship. Education serves as an eye opener and equalizing factor for mankind regardless of their backgrounds or affiliations. In my view, education without interest or passion is futile, because that is a factor for one to succeed in life. In my view, only interest cannot suffice as aptitude, determination and hard work is necessary. The effectiveness of any learning process depends on the level of understanding of how students learn best from the teacher. In view of my self-identification, the life in a multicultural and multiracial society provided me with an opportunity to acknowledge my background. My ethnic origin being Arabian, I had a desire to identify a certain group that constitutes my racial and ethnic background. Furthermore, I have gained a good understanding of how individuals of mixed irritate attempt to identify themselves and counteract with oppressive systems in the society. A woman’s contemporary position in the Saudi society has an impact on the development process considering that religious perspectives have been a limiting factor. The symbol of cultural identity and integrity has been the veil and headscarf. Nevertheless, most women have devised unique strategies to counteract gender inequality to ensure social Justice in all spheres of life besides education. It is worth differentiating the Islamic cultural practices and their normative teachings. Instead of Irving as an agent of social change, the role of women in education has been to bolster conservation in the conservative society. To this far, it is plausible that the Saudi Government signed a pact in 2001 with the United Nations to discourage all forms of discrimination against women. Pigged presented a developmental stage theory whereby an adult uses a complex and internalized set of behaviors to interact with the environment. It is worth mentioning that his theory popularly known as 8 Cognitive Developmental theory, clearly reflect the adult development in the society or school set up. The entry into adulthood occurs after a full understanding and evaluation of how an individual is like. Perceptions change can be attributed to a considerable change of culture. It is apparent that a change in both concepts and personality will have a bearing on the expected changes in one’s career. The development in personality can be attributed to genes, childhood experiences, environment and gene-environment correlations (Salesman Rider, 2011). The needs and norms of different cultures tend to respond to their environment in a fundamentally human manner considering its set of beliefs, language and values. Communities should be responsible for enhancing good citizenship virtues through mutual respect and recognition. In a democratic society, social integration should be fostered regardless of cultural or ethnic barriers. Martin (2011) observes that teachers and administrators should combine efforts to bring about positive reforms in the school’s social Justice. They should be well equipped with skills and knowledge that is sensitive to specific needs and environments of their students. The main aim of educators should be to establish capacity building and assistance to ensure responsible citizenship. Students tend to respond to the system by creating cultural groups to meet their different interests and aspirations while in school. In addition, the interactions such as sports within a multicultural, multivalent, multiracial and multicasts helps discourage Teacher education institutions ought to have the capacity to effectively build professionals who are sensitive about ethnic, racial and cultural diversity that exists in schools and communities. The leadership should adopt appropriate initiatives and approaches that focus on transforming the education system as agents of change. Yester and elite institutions can be developed to cater for certain vulnerable races, genders, ethnicities and economic statuses thus minimizing any form of discrimination. Social Justice can be better enhanced through combined efforts of education leadership to carry a radical transformation of structures in the system. This will require integrated and continuous approaches that are informative and efficient. The fundamental transformation of existing structures and apparatuses implies that strategies, curricula, research methodologies and programs have to be articulated sugarless of the barriers that exist. The stakeholders, particularly education leaders, need to highlight the perennial challenges in the sector by monitoring trends both in school and the community. The use of media as a medium of teaching provides environments that relate theoretical and practical aspects of learning among students, school, community and society as a whole. Media platforms such as internet and video provide a pedagogical avenue for enhanced conceptualization of the curriculum. Both philosophical and legal policies that promote diversity should be developed. The leadership should focus on creating an environment that is supportive to issues of diversity including debates. Leaders should encourage the selection of women and the less privileged in learning institutions and offering incentives for their promotion and retention. Community awareness on the importance of diversity in creating cohesiveness should be created. How to cite Leadership, education and diversity, Papers

Analytical Challenges Emerging Public Health Surveillance

Question: Discuss about the Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance. Answer: Introduction: The first challenges faced in implementing surveillance system was that it needs to collect data from electronic health information system from hospital, however supporting such interface in different hospital is difficult due to different data standards and unwillingness of staffs to manage such system. To address this problem, I will take steps to facilitate standard format for data storage and transmission. Giving the hospitals IT staff universal data processing standard will help in better integration of the system. It will facilitate better transmission of health information and detection of disease outbreak in clinical setting (Fricker, 2013). Second challenges faced in implementing surveillance system involve privacy and security issues. As the head of epidemiology section, I will ensure that the health information system is so designed that patients privacy is protected. Surveillance system relies on employing statistical data of patients to inspect changes in pre-diagnostic information and predict outbreak of a disease. To address this issue, it will be necessary to take approval from each patient and impose strict security policy to protect patients privacy and confidentiality. The information related to patient pre-diagnostic data should not disclose patients identity and even when it is disclosed, patients permission must be taken to protect privacy and confidentiality issues (Ozok et al., 2014). Another challenge related to getting funds for surveillance system can be addressed through strategies like ensuring financial sustainability of the system to convince investors and get better funding for implementing the system in the hospital. To facilitate dissemination of data, it will be necessary to impose security regulations and use effective software that can secure data as well as the surveillance system. Priority will be given on getting adequate resource to implement the system to facilitate funding and a cooperative agreement will help to attract funding agency (Public Health Surveillance Data: Legal, Policy, Ethical, Regulatory, and Practical Issues, 2016). Having adequate IT staffs and tools is necessary to appropriately analyze the data and identify true problem relating to disease outbreak instead of overreacting on small issues. Steps will be taken to recruit those staffs who have experience in managing syndromic disease surveillance by utilizing real time data from surveillance system. High level technical staffs are needed who have knowledge in epidemiology and public health analytic data management to enable management of complex statistical reports (Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance, 2016). To effectively implement syndromic surveillance system and redirect IT resource of the hospital to identify bioterrorism issues and infectious disease outbreak in particular population, it is necessary to have the support of public health agency. As the CEO of the hospital, I would like better communication between public health agencies to redirect hospital resource according the requirement of resource for integrating syndromic surveillance system. This will help in analyzing the main infrastructural change required to introduce appropriate IT resource in the hospital (Grol et al., 2013). As public health agency plays a key role in detecting and responding to health emergencies, their support will be important to identify the relevant IT resource needed at the hospital. The collaboration with the public health agency with regard to the preparedness of the hospital for implementing surveillance system can help in bringing appropriate IT resource for the hospital. The main IT resource required for the system includes adequate software, user interface, automatic or manual data acquisition process and appropriate web based device to handle complex pre-diagnostic data of patients (Kellermann Jones, 2013). If the data acquisition process is manual, then no new infrastructure is needed, however for automated data acquisition process, an effective error free user interface is needed which health staffs can easily manage. The public health agency and hospital will also need to recruit IT leaders or skilled IT professional who can effectively identify relevant change needed in existing IT resource according to syndrome surveillance system. Introduction of web-based devices can also be useful to ease data entry of accurate patient information and rate of infection. Creating link public health Agency will help in getting support to bring this change and enable specific identification of patient with conflicting condition and infection cases (Tambo et al., 2014). In the field of epidemiology and for the purpose of biodefense, adequate support of public health agency is crucial to response to outbreak. As the CEO of the hospital, my role will to provide adequate reasons to public health agency regarding how redirecting resource can have impact on public health emergencies. Reference Analytical Challenges for Emerging Public Health Surveillance. (2016).Cdc.gov. Retrieved 23 November 2016, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6103a8.htm Fricker, R. D. (2013).Introduction to statistical methods for biosurveillance: with an emphasis on syndromic surveillance. Cambridge University Press. Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013).Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley Sons. Kellermann, A. L., Jones, S. S. (2013). What it will take to achieve the as-yet-unfulfilled promises of health information technology.Health Affairs,32(1), 63-68. Ozok, A. A., Wu, H., Garrido, M., Pronovost, P. J., Gurses, A. P. (2014). Usability and perceived usefulness of personal health records for preventive health care: A case study focusing on patients' and primary care providers' perspectives.Applied ergonomics,45(3), 613-628. Posid, J. M., Bruce, S. M., Guarnizo, J. T., O'Connor Jr, R. C., Papagiotas, S. S., Taylor, M. L. (2013). Public health emergencies and responses: what are they, how long do they last, and how many staff does your agency need?.Biosecurity and bioterrorism: biodefense strategy, practice, and science,11(4), 271-279. Public Health Surveillance Data: Legal, Policy, Ethical, Regulatory, and Practical Issues. (2016).Cdc.gov. Retrieved 23 November 2016, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6103a7.htm Tambo, E., Ai, L., Zhou, X., Chen, J. H., Hu, W., Bergquist, R., ... Zhou, X. N. (2014). Surveillance-response systems: the key to elimination of tropical diseases.Infectious diseases of poverty,3(1), 1.

Women And Writing Essays - Edwidge Danticat, Haitian People

Women And Writing Since the beginning of times, human beings have found various ways to express themselves and more specifically how to declare their feelings and emotions. We all know that art (in a general term) is supposed to be the tool used for expression. People from different communities, cultural backgrounds, and religions, have been appealed to manifest and share their uniqueness through art. Art, whether it was music, painting, sculpting or writing has been highly censured through time because of its contents of truth. The majorities of a society did not allow minorities to fully express themselves with fear of manifestations and revolts . Women, as a minority have fought to tell the truth. In order to understand better the meaning of Women's writing, we will first analyze the factors that pushed women to write, then we will go over the obstacles that women encountered and finally, we will discuss what the writers wanted to achieve through their writing. Factors that pushed women to write "There are writers who need to make sense of the world they live"(Dorothy Allison, Trash, p.19.) This sentence shows that the writer needed to write to see and understand herself through writing. This young white woman was living a life filled with alcohol and drug addiction, she tried to escape that trap by fooling herself and by rebuilding a total new idealistic image of her person (working as a social worker.) However, throughout her progression, she has been writing everything about herself on a yellow pad, whatever she would do, wherever she would be, those yellow pads were there, as a representation of her truth. She could fool herself, but not her yellow pads, her truth was written there. Allison as many women in the world has been trying to hide her suffering. Constantly fooling herself, she still had to yell out her truth, this, by spreading her pain on paper. However, the papers were taboo, just like someone would litter an embarrassing amount of trash. Allison had to take out her story and anger, even if they were full of shame. She could not live without writing, it was a matter of survival. This urge to write was shared by some other women writers. The search of an understanding was the factor that pushed Bell Hooks to write "I began to feel uncertain, displaced, estranged even, this was the condition of my spirit when I decided to be a writer, to seek for that light in words" (Bell Hooks, remembered ruptures, p.15) after that she declares "Searching for a space were writing could be understood, I asked for a diary" (Bell Hooks, remembered ruptures, p.15.) Writing was a way to understand herself a little like Dorothy Allison, a way to look at one's own person in a global manner, from a different angle, in other words, a way to be objective about oneself ?situation. Not only do women write for themselves with the thought that nobody can understand them, but they also write for others, a way to make a declaration to the world, a way to change the truth by saying it . In her writings, Sandra Cisneros implies that she wants to change the world. In her book "The House on Mango Street" she declares that she wants to leave the unpleasant neighborhood of Mango street, however, she says that she will come back, probably not physically, but at least trough her book. Coming back might mean that she wanted to do something to change Mango street, and that is trough her book, that's why she wrote it. Edwidge Danticat tells us how her desire to write was consuming her in a society where Women's writing was absolutely forbidden, something to do in the corner. Danticat learned how her female ancestors have been expressing themselves through nothing else than cooking, hair braiding or even carving potatoes. But she wanted to perpetuate the creativity of her ancestors, she just needed to do it through writing. "It was their whispers that pushed you, their murmurs over pots sizzling in your head. A thousand women urging you to speak through the blunt tip of your pencil." (Edwidge Danticat, Kirk? Krak! p.8.) By writing, she would have passed along a culture, just like braiding or cooking. However, her writing was threatening "the natural functioning" of a patriarchal society. Whether women write for themselves or for others, the main matter is that they write for an urge of understanding. There is a clear desire of comprehension. Obstacles that women encountered In her paper "A Room

Resourcing Essay The WritePass Journal

Resourcing Essay Introduction Resourcing Essay ). On the other hand, the UAE has one of the largest expatriate populations globally who are well skilled and capable of handling such challenging positions. Though the government offers the locals a competitive advantage for such lucrative positions, it is quite challenging to select an individual in such a competitive job market.   Furthermore, the success of an employee in an organisation is based on long-term investment on the employee by the organisation. The current labour laws in the UAE are very dynamic and are undergoing changes that may affect sustainability of an employee in an organisation especially in cases where a non-UAE national is to fill the post (UAEInteract, 2013). Such a case may result to short-lived career of an employee in the organisation thus destabilizing the performance of an organisation in such an important sector. Consequently, the process of selecting a candidate should not only focus on the experience and skills of the employee, but also future pro spects with regard to labour laws and policies. In conclusion, the competitiveness of an organisation is founded on selecting a human capital that can effectively meet the strategies and objectives of an organisation and employing strategies that will ensure the lowest rate of employee turnover as it is very costly for an organisation to change its workforce periodically (Merkel, 2010). The above process has identified the main areas of concern that should I will focus on when selecting a suitable and sustainable customer service manager for an organization. It is evident that not only skills and competencies are assessed in selecting an individual, but also a country’s labour laws and policies. Accordingly, when selecting a suitable candidate who will drive an organisation’s future successes, the above selection procedures should be followed coupled with effective induction and retention strategies. References Evans, A., 2001. Staff recruitment and retention: strategies for effective action – Review, Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing. UAEInteract, 2013. Social Development – Employment: UAE, Retrieved from uaeinteract.com/news/default3.asp? ID=39 Merkle, J. 2010.  Management and Ideology. California. University of California Press. Conaty, B Ram C. 2011.  The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People before Numbers. London. Crown Publishing Group.

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case study - Essay Example The potential for conflict arses when the conditions under which the service is provided is poor. High High High Identify their changing needs and make the necessary changes to facilitate them Suppliers Interested in continued business with the company. Conflict can arise when they also compete with Garden City Ltd Moderate Moderate Moderate Ensure that more than one supplier is used so that shortages can be avoided. Employees Interested in maintaining their jobs Moderate Moderate Moderate Train them and ensure that they are motivated so that they can provide quality customer service Shareholders Interested in the profitability of the business and maintaining or improving their net worth. Moderate Moderate Moderate Ensure that the business maintains or increases its value so that they can sell their shares easily. Manage it in such a way that people will be willing to invest in the company The Community Interested in the continuity of the business. Potential for conflicts may arise i f the company is not obeying government rules and regulations Low to Moderate Moderate Moderate The company needs to ensure that it meets its obligations in relation to the environment and make contributions to the uplift the community. Loan Creditors Collecting debts as they fall due. Borrowing in excess of certain limits and expending funds on unprofitable projects place them at risk and are likely to cause conflicts. Moderate Moderate Moderate Avoid conflicts and ensure business continuity by ensuring that agreements are adhered to. The table shows six of the stakeholders of Garden City Ltd - customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, the community in which the business is operated and loan creditors. It shows their main interest and matters that could potentially cause conflict. It also shows their level of influence, importance and net impact. Based on the information provided by Sally the customers are the stakeholders with a high level of power and influence, importance a nd net impact. It therefore means their needs should be satisfied if Garden City Ltd wishes to remain in business. The other stakeholders are not as influential and important as customers. Without customers the business ceases to exist. However, it is important to note that loan creditors can wield a lot of power, especially when a company is in financial distress. A business’s ability to remain in good favour with loan creditors depends on how its finances are managed and whether it discharges its obligations when they are due. Anything to the contrary may result in loan creditors using their powers to take over the assets of the business. Although the shareholders are owners of the business the influence that they wield depends on the percentage of shares that they own. The decisions that management makes are highly likely to coincide with the interest of the customers. Maintaining shareholder value is of paramount importance. The community has the power to bind the company to act in accordance with government regulations. It is through the community that companies find a supply of workers to

Air pollution in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Air pollution in China - Essay Example country claiming that the country would continue to grow its economy relying on the energy inefficient industries and using the polluting agents (Feng, 1999). However, the studies claim that the cost of pollution would oppose the development a feature that has begun stagnating development endeavors in the country as the discussion below portrays. The introductory paragraph above states that pollution is costly and deters infrastructural development and economic growth in the country. China’s economy has grown within the last few years owing to the rapid industrialization of the country. China is among the largest consumers of fossil fuels in the world with most of the industries in the country running on petroleum products. While industrialization has fostered the economic growth of the country, such endeavors have contributed to different forms of pollution thus culminating in the current state of affairs. Currently, the rate of pollution has reached the highest level deterring visibility owing to fog. Such high levels of pollution have begun affect the country’s economic growth by making the country, a country that was once the leading global investment destination, lose on foreign investors most of who site the health implications of the intense pollution. Industries in China are the leading pollutants. The country has millions of industries that run of fossil fuels thereby emitting large amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide among other poisonous gases. Cities in the northern parts of the country are more polluted than in any other parts of the country owing to high number of industries in such regions. China for example is the leading exporter of steal globally (Innes & Hassan, 2000). Steel and cement industries are among the companies located in the northern parts of the country. Cement and steel industries in the country contribute to pollution owing to the large-scale evacuation processes they carry out coupled with an equally large-scale

Effects of Basel II Accord on Qatar’s Banking Sector

Effects of Basel II Accord on Qatar’s Banking Sector Chapter 1: Introduction International banking is increasingly vital for every country in order to create an image for itself in the international finance market. Alongside, the increase in globalisation and the upsurge in outsourcing by multinational companies in the west have created a lot of opportunities for growth in the Middle East and Far Eastern countries. This apparently requires a strong internationally stable financial organization to conduct transactions across the globe without any errors (i.e.) 100% accuracy.   This includes reliability and stability of the bank under extreme situations (like emergency for example), which is highly important to conduct international transactions. Also the potential to meet financial demands during crisis situations is a vital criterion that is considered while presenting themselves in the international market. In addition to the globalisation, outsourcing and export/import growth, there is also a tremendous growth in cross-border finance among the countries in the Middle East and Far East. Along with all these factors the developing nations in the Middle East face a mandatory requirement of a sable international banking system in order to attract foreign investment. The increase in cross border finance activity among the middle eastern countries is also a critical element to be considered for establishing a stable international bank within the nation in order to represent the country in the international finance market. The countries in the Middle East are actively participating in cross-border finance since the dawn of the 21st century. Being a producer of Oil which is a vital ingredient at all levels of life right from day-to-day driving up to power generation for the nation in order to run industries and serve domestic purposes, makes it critical for the nations in the Middle East to have a strong international banking system to conduct transactions across the globe accurately and effectively. Qatar is a growing nation in the Middle East with primary operations in oil and gas export as well increasing its potential in areas of development in technology focusing on IT and communication. The nation has efficient international operations and con ducts financial transactions between western nations as well as with eastern nations. Since the take over of the government by H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa in 1995, the country is making tremendous progress in deploying its hydrocarbon resources in order to penetrate in the international market and present itself as a financially stable nation in the international market. Further to the increase in the international operations by the countries in the Middle East and the Far East, the Bank for International Settlements developed a framework to co-ordinate the international financial operations as well as create a portfolio for the capital measurement and capital standards which every nation involving in international banking operations is expected to adopt in order to stabilise and put in order the international transactions between countries. The Basel II accord produced by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision aims at achieving International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards. The arrangement aims to set a minimum standard to be met by its participating nations in order to achieve capital adequacy by the participating nations in the international market. This report aims at analysing the effects of Basel II accord on Qatar’s banking sector. The objectives of this report are stated below: To analyse the Basel II accord and it’s framework for measuring capital adequacy in the nations participating in the international banking transaction. To investigate the banking sector of Qatar and the effect of Basel II accord on its international operations and capital adequacy. To analyse the effect of Basel II accord on the nation’s two major banks having international operations in Qatar namely, Qatar Industrial Development Bank (QIDB) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) and to analyse the impact of Basel II Accord on the Banking Sector of Qatar. Report Outline: The report comprises of the following chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the objectives of the report and presents a broad picture of the report to the reader. Chapter 2: Overview of Basel II Accord This chapter presents with an overview of the Basel II accord. The three pillars of Basel II accord namely Minimum Capital Requirements, Supervisory Review Process and Market Discipline are analysed in detail to provide the reader with a detailed understanding of the consent of Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Chapter 3: Implications and Critical Analysis of Basel II Accord The literature review on the Basel II Accord in chapter 2 is followed by the critical analysis and its implications on nations (business and political) are presented to the reader before proceeding to present the overview of the Qatar Banking sector.    Chapter 4: Overview of Qatar and its Banking Sector This chapter presents the reader with an overview of Qatar as a nation and its business operations in the International market. Alongside, the chapter analyses the country’s growth in the banking sector and its internationally active banks. Chapter 5: Case Study This chapter conducts a case study analysis on Qatar’s two internationally active banks namely Qatar Industrial Development Bank (QIDB) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ). The effect of Basel II accord on the banks along with an overview of the bank is presented to the reader. The data used to present the case study is primarily obtained from secondary sources like journals, reports and white papers. This is apparently due the fact that the analysis is conducted on a foreign nation as well as the data available from the secondary sources are also reliable as they are published by legitimate organizations and popular journals.   Chapter 6: Results and Discussions The results of the case study analysis and discussions are carried out in this chapter. This chapter aims to present a clearer picture to the reader on the effects of the Basel II accord on the banks analysed. Chapter 7:   Conclusion and Recommendations The conclusions derived from the case results and discussions on the case study and the overall conclusion on the effect of Basel I accord on the Qatar Banking Sector is presented in this chapter. Alongside, this chapter presents a few constructive recommendations based on the results and discussion on the case study. Chapter 2: Overview of Basel II Accord This chapter begins with an overview of the Bank for International Settlements followed by a detailed analysis of the Basel II accord. The Basel II committee is also analysed alongside in order to provide a deeper insight to the readers. 2.1 Bank for International Settlements Overview and it’s Operations The Bank for International Settlements (Bank for International Settlements) is an international organization looking after international monetary and financial co-operation across the globe. This organization acts as the bank for all the central banks of countries participating in the international finance and banking. The Bank for International Settlements profile states that the bank achieves the aforementioned statement through acting as A forum to promote discussion and facilitate decision-making processes among central banks and within the international financial and supervisory community. A centre for economic and monetary research A prime counter party for central banks in their financial transactions and Agent or trustee in connection with international financial operations. Established in 17th Many 1930, it is the oldest financial organization at the international level. The Bank for International Settlements has three major decision making bodies within the bank to achieve its mission. They are The general meeting of member central banks This meeting is held before the end of four months of the end of the banks annual financial year. The meeting addresses all the issues related to business and the member central banks gather to approve the annual financial statement released by the bank. The Board of Directors The board of directors comprise the central bank governors elected from various participating countries. They monitor the overall operation of the bank and take responsibility for actions to be taken and address issues related to disputes and other major international financial cross border problems. The Management Committee The management committee is the first line representative of the Bank for International Settlements and addresses the day-to-day activities of the bank. This committee primarily manages the monetary and financial co-operation services. The services include Meetings: Apart from the Annual general meeting the Bank for International Settlements organizes meetings on a bimonthly basis. This meeting brings the member central banks together with the aim of monitoring the global economic and financial development and discusses issues on its policies in relation to the monetary and financial stability. Committees and Secretariats Bank for International Settlements has several committees to monitor specific problems and issues in the international finance and cross border loans. Alongside, several other committees and organizations focusing on international financial systems have their secretariats in the Bank for International Settlements and work closely with the bank in order to enhance the overall international banking and cross border finance. Basel committee of the Bank for International Settlements is the committee that laid the specifications for capital measurement and capital standard of the central banks participating in the international banking. Research and Statistics: In order to support its meetings and the activities of the organization’s Basel based committees the Bank for International Settlements carries out regular research on economic, monetary, financial and legal areas of the international banking and cross border finance. Investment services for central banks: Bank for International Settlements also provides security, liquidity and return for its central bank members. The three primary points with respect to this identified by the organization are To provide security, the Bank has built up a sizeable equity capital and ample reserves. It pursues an investment strategy focused on combining diversification benefits with intensive credit and market risk analysis. To ensure liquidity, the Bank stands ready to repurchase its tradable instruments at little cost to its customers and thus respond quickly and flexibly to their needs. The BIS offers an attractive and competitive return on the funds deposited by central banks and international organisations The Bank for International Settlements focuses on serving the financial needs of central banks of the member countries. Alongside, it also acts as a banker managing the funds for numerous international financial institutions. 2.2: Basel committee Overview The Basel committee was established the member central banks of the Bank for International Settlements in order to create a standard for the international banking and capital framework for crass border finance and lending. The committee was initially set up in 1970 and meets regularly four times a year to discuss the progress in international banking and address issues related to business in this context. The member nations of the committee include Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. The country’s central bank and financial institutions that are not active in banking commercially but monitor the financial operations of the nation both at national and international levels represent the nations. The committee does no possess any authority over its member nations banking systems and the decisions of the committee are never intended to have a legal force on its member nations. The Central bank governors of the Group ten countries endorse the committee’s major initiatives. Also the committee reports to the group ten countries central bank governors. The committee first proposed he capital measurement system in 1988 commonly referred to as ‘Basel Capital Accord’. The committee aims in supervising the international banking operations of the nations across the globe. The decisions of the committee endorsed by the group ten countries address various financial issues in the international market outside the groups as well. The major aim of the committee is the ‘close the gaps in international supervisory coverage’ and to ensure that no foreign banking systems escapes the supervision in order to establish a harmony among the member nations of the Bank for International Settlements as well as in the international market. The committee has promoted supervisory standards in the past few years. Some of its major milestones include the following 1997: Cover Principles for effective banking supervision 1999: Core Principles methodology The committee also presented the Basel II accord with revision on international capital framework. This aims to standardise the capital framework of every bank participating in the international banking as well as sets slabs for minimum capital holdings to be met by the banks in order to qualify for international operations. The committee has numerous subgroups to perform specific tasks of the committee in order to achieve the overall motto of the committee. They are listed below Accord Implementation Group Accounting Task Force Capital Group Capital Task Force Core Principles Liaison Group (with 16 non-G10 countries) Cross-Border Banking Group Electronic Banking Group Joint Forum (with IAIS and IOSCO) Joint IOSCO BCBS Working Group on Trading Book Research Task Force Risk Management Group Securitisation Group Transparency Group The next section provides a detailed analysis of the Basel II accord and its various implications on international banking is discussed in chapter 3. 2.3 The Basel II Accord The Basel II accord was released in June 2004 further to the release of the Basel Accord in 2003. The Basel II is a revised edition of the initial Basel capital accord. It is a framework designed to derive the capital holdings of internationally active banks to meet the international standards and sets a minimum level of capital holding which is a primary criteria for the banks. The Basel II framework is aimed to be applied on a consolidated basis over internationally active banks in order to preserve the integrity of capital in the banks with subsidiaries. Also the framework eliminates the double gearing through this approach. The Basel II accord’s framework is also applied on a fully consolidated basis on any parent holding company which acts as a parent entity within a banking group in order to capture the risk on a consolidated basis without missing any element that contributes considerably to the risk of the overall banking system. Alongside, the framework is also applicable to all internationally active banks at every tier of the banking group. Apart from the aforementioned statements one of the principal objectives of the Basel II Accord is to protect the interest of the depositors essentially to ensure that capital recognised capital adequacy measures is readily available for the depositors. Apparently, these measures are aimed to establish a common platform for international banking and cross border finance across the globe. The scope of application extends to the following segments of the international banking and finance entities. Banking, securities and other financial subsidiaries Significant minority investments in banking securities Insurance entities Significant investment in commercial entities. Deduction of investment pursuant to this part The aforementioned entities are obtained from the Basel Committee report on International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, published in June 2004. The Basel II accord overview is based on this report. The illustration in the fig 1 gives a clear picture of the overall scope of application of the Basel II accord. The Basel II accord is split into three pillars. The first Pillar: Minimum Capital Requirements This is the very important pillar of the Basel II Accord. This pillar has very clear definitions of the Accord’s application on the credit risks and operational risk along with the Trading Book issues that are vital for international banking establishment. The layout in fig 2 reproduced from the Basel II report provides the inner picture of the First Pillar. The following subsections provide a detailed analysis on the elements shown in fig 2. 2.4: The First Pillar The First pillar lays down the minimum capital requirements that every internationally active bank should incorporate.   It is split into the following subsection. 2.4.1:   Calculation of Minimum capital requirements The minimum capital requirement is calculated as a measure of the capital ration. The capital ratio in turn is calculated using the regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets. The requirement of this criterion is that the capital ration must be a minimum of 8% or more in order to be eligible for the international activities. Also, in case of a two tier system the capital in tier 2 must not be greater than the tier 1 capital (i.e.) the tier 2 capital can be a maximum of 100% of the tier 1 capital. The capital is accounted from the following sources    Regulatory capital: The minimum accounting capital requirements for the financial institution encompasses the regulatory capital. The Basel II accord has withdrawn the provision to include general provisions in tire 2 capital, which was in effect in the 1988 Accord under the Internal Ratings-Based (IRB) approach.   Furthermore the accord has lain down that the banks using the Internal Ratings Based approach to their other assets mu st compare the amount of total eligible provision with the total expected losses amount to the bank. This eventually increases the capital holding of the bank in order to meet the criteria. Risk Weighted Assets: The Basel II Accord calculates the total risk-weighted assets by multiplying the capital requirement for market risk and operational risk by the reciprocal of the minimum capital ratio of 8% and adding the resulting value to the sum of risk weighted assets for credit risk. Even though this is subject to review the approach lays enormous burden on the bank to increase its minimum capital holdings. Apparently the Basel II Accord is aiming to establish that the internationally active banks must have enough capital to meet its short comings without depending on loans and cross border finance to address its immediate requirements and short comings. The idea though being novel is very intense for the banks to maintain the required minimum capital. Transitional Arrangements: The Accord has also stated that the banks following the Internal Ratings-Based approach or the Advanced Measurements Approach (AMA) that there will be a capital floor after the implementation of the Basel II framework. The adjustment factors used in both the internal ratings-based approach and the advanced measurements approach for calculating the capital floor as per the definition of the Basel II framework is shown in fig 3 below. 2.4.2: Credit Risk-The Standardised Approach Under this method the Basel committee provides the internationally active banks a choice for calculating their capital requirements for credit risk. The first approach is the standardised method of measuring the credit risk through support from external credit assessments. This method is approved by the Basel committee while the other method is yet to explicitly approved by the committee. Under the alternate method of calculating the credit risk, the bank supervisor can allow banks to use their internal rating systems for calculating the credit risk. Under both the methodologies one should not oversee the fact that the Basel committee is very keen in assessing the credit risk on the capital holdings of the internationally active banks. Even though this is appreciated, the rules are very stringent making it very difficult for the banks for adopt easily. 2.4.3 Credit Risk- Internal Ratings Based Approach The Basel II committee has given supervisory approval for banks to use the Internal Ratings-Based approach to determine their capital requirement for a given exposure subject to certain minimum conditions and disclosure requirements. The risk components considered include Measures of the probability of default (PD), Loss given default (LGD), The exposure at default (EAD), Effective maturity (M) The Basel II accord states that â€Å"The Internal Ratings Based Approach is based on the measure of unexpected loses (UL) and Expected Loses (EL). Under the Internal Ratings Based Approach, the committee expects the bank to categories their exposures in order to identify the different underlying risk characteristics. The categories include corporate, sovereign, bank, retail and equity. These are identified as the corporate asset classes and the approach further expects the bank to identify the subclasses associated with the asset classes in order to measure the credit risk associated with the exposure. The detailed analysis of every corporate class and its associated subclasses is beyond the scope of this report. In essence the Internal Ratings Based Approach gives the bank more liberty to calculate its credit-risk on the minimum capital requirement for a given exposure. But the producers laid by the Basel II Accord is very tedious to adopt and implement for every corporate class exposure and identifying the subclasses associated. 2.4.4: Credit Risk- Securitisation Framework The Basel Committee in its revised accord, has made it mandatory for the banks to apply the Securitisation Framework for determining regulatory capital requirements on exposure arising from traditional and synthetic Securitisation or similar structures that contain features common to both.   The Basel II accord also states that the capital treatment of the Securitisation exposure must be determined on the basis of the economic substance rather than the legal form of the structure. It is apparent that the securities can be structured in many different ways and the committee has approved the use of either the traditional Securitisation or the synthetic Securitisation framework. Also the Basel II accord expects the supervisor to look at the economic substance of transaction in order to determine whether it should be subject to Securitisation framework or not. This gives the discretionary power to the supervisor to decide on a specific transaction whether to include it in the framework or to eliminate it from the framework towards determining the regulatory capital framework. The traditional Securitisation and the synthetic Securitisation framework are discussed below. Traditional Securitisation: The Basel II Accord defines the traditional framework as â€Å"a structure where the cash flow from an underlying pool of exposures is used to service at least two different stratified risk positions or tranches reflecting different degrees of credit risk†. The advantage with this approach is that the payment to the investors is based on the performance of the specified underlying exposures rather than a derivation from an obligation of the entity originating those exposures. Synthetic Securitisation â€Å"A synthetic Securitisation is a structure with at least two different stratified risk positions or tranches that reflect different degrees of credit risk where credit risk of an underlying pool of exposures is transferred, in whole or in part, through the use of funded (e.g. credit-linked notes) or un-funded (e.g. credit default swaps) credit derivatives or guarantees that serve to hedge the credit risk of the portfolio†. This approach leaves the return to the investors in the hands of the performance of the underlying pool. Apparently, the risk associated is higher since the performance can be affected by numerous causes. From the above-mentioned approaches the Basel II accord’s stand for evaluating the capital and minimum capital requirements are evident. 2.4.5: Operational Risk The operational risk is defined by the Basel Committee as the risk associated with the loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, systems or external events. This includes the legal risk with the exclusion of strategic and reputational risk. The Basel II Accord has approved three methods for calculating the operational risk and risk sensitivity with the implications on minimum capital requirements. They are: (i) The Basic indicator approach, (ii) the Standardised Approach and (iii) Advanced Measurement Approach. Basic Indicator Approach: In this case the banks should hold capital for the operational risk equal to the average over the past three years of a fixed percentage. This is expressed as a formula below KBIA = [ÃŽ £ (GI1†¦n x ÃŽ ±)]/n Where KBIA = the capital charge under the Basic Indicator Approach GI = annual gross income, where positive, over the previous three years n = number of the previous three years for which gross income is positive ÃŽ ± = 15%, which is set by the Committee, relating the industry wide level of required capital to the industry wide level of the indicator. This formula is obtained from the Basel II accord for the purpose of reader understanding. Standardised Approach: The standardised approach divides the bank’s activities into eight-business lines namely corporate finance, trading sales, retail banking, commercial banking, payment settlement, agency services, asset management, and retail brokerage. The likelihood of operational risk exposure is calculated from the gross income associated with each business line that serves as an indicator for the scale of business operations by the bank in that specific area of business or business line. This approach is very clumsy since the gross income associated with the business line varies due to numerous reasons both internal and external. Advanced Measurement Approach: The Advanced Measurement Approach equates the regulatory capital requirement with the risk measure generated by the bank’s internal operational risk measurement system using quantitative and qualitative criteria. The banks can use this method only after the approval by the Committee. The Basel II Accord sets the approach for the banks based on their international activity and significant operational risk exposures. Also, when a bank agrees to use a more sophisticated method, it cannot revert back to the easier method without approval from the supervisor. This eventually increases the burden on the banks to choose a sophisticated method. 2.4.6: Trading Book Issues The final segment of the first pillar is the trading book. Basel Committee defines the trading book as a container of both the financial instruments and commodities held either with trading intent or in order to hedge other elements of the trading book. The trading book forms a vital element for the bank since it is the record of the bank’s financial instruments as well as commodities. The Basel II Accord identifies four key principles for the supervisory process. They are listed below. The basic requirements for the eligibility to trading book capital treatment put forth by the Basel II Accord are as follows Clearly documented trading strategy for the position/instrument or portfolios, approved by senior management (which would include expected holding horizon). Clearly defined policies and procedures for the active management of the position Clearly defined policy and procedures to monitor the positions against the bank’s trading strategy including the monitoring of turnover and stale positions in the bank’s trading book 2.3: The Second Pillar- Supervisory Review Process Basel committee was initially set up for the supervising the internationally active banks and produce a common platform for the smooth transactions and cross border finance. The Basel II Accord has established Supervisory Process as one of the three pillars in order to emphasise its stand on supervisory process. The importance of supervisory process is described below. 2.3.1: Importance of Supervisory Process The supervisory review process of the Basel II Accord aims not only to ensure that banks have adequate capital to support all the risks in their business but also intends to encourage the banks to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing risks. Alongside, the supervisory process by developing internal capital assessment process and setting capital targets that are commensurate with the bank’s risk profile recognises the importance for bank management in order to improve the atmosphere in the international banking and cross border finance. The Supervisory process evaluates the relationship between the amount of capital held by the bank against the risk, strength and effectiveness of the bank’s risk management eventually guiding the bank and supervising its activities in order to improve the performance of the banks in the international business market and cross border finance. 2.3.2 Four Key Principles of the supervisory review The four key principles identified by the Basel II Accord on the supervisory process is listed below. These principles emphasise on the committee’s focus on supervision and its aim to maintain harmony in the international banking and cross border finance. Principle 1: Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for maintaining their capital levels. Principle 2: Supervisors should review and evaluate banks’ internal capital adequacy assessments and strategies, as well as their ability to monitor and ensure their compliance with regulatory capital ratios. Supervisors should take appropriate supervisory action if they are not satisfied with the result of this process. Principle 3: Supervisors should expect banks to operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to require banks to hold capital in excess of the minimum. Principle 4: Supervisors should seek to intervene at an early stage to prevent capital from falling below the minimum levels required to support the risk characteristics of a particular bank and should require rapid remedial action if capital is not maintained or restored. 2.3.3: Issues to be addressed There are two specific issues to be addressed by the Supervisory-Review Process. They are Interest Rate Risk in the Banking book: Since it is clear that the Basel Committee’s primary focus is on identifying and preventing risk in the international b Effects of Basel II Accord on Qatar’s Banking Sector Effects of Basel II Accord on Qatar’s Banking Sector Chapter 1: Introduction International banking is increasingly vital for every country in order to create an image for itself in the international finance market. Alongside, the increase in globalisation and the upsurge in outsourcing by multinational companies in the west have created a lot of opportunities for growth in the Middle East and Far Eastern countries. This apparently requires a strong internationally stable financial organization to conduct transactions across the globe without any errors (i.e.) 100% accuracy.   This includes reliability and stability of the bank under extreme situations (like emergency for example), which is highly important to conduct international transactions. Also the potential to meet financial demands during crisis situations is a vital criterion that is considered while presenting themselves in the international market. In addition to the globalisation, outsourcing and export/import growth, there is also a tremendous growth in cross-border finance among the countries in the Middle East and Far East. Along with all these factors the developing nations in the Middle East face a mandatory requirement of a sable international banking system in order to attract foreign investment. The increase in cross border finance activity among the middle eastern countries is also a critical element to be considered for establishing a stable international bank within the nation in order to represent the country in the international finance market. The countries in the Middle East are actively participating in cross-border finance since the dawn of the 21st century. Being a producer of Oil which is a vital ingredient at all levels of life right from day-to-day driving up to power generation for the nation in order to run industries and serve domestic purposes, makes it critical for the nations in the Middle East to have a strong international banking system to conduct transactions across the globe accurately and effectively. Qatar is a growing nation in the Middle East with primary operations in oil and gas export as well increasing its potential in areas of development in technology focusing on IT and communication. The nation has efficient international operations and con ducts financial transactions between western nations as well as with eastern nations. Since the take over of the government by H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa in 1995, the country is making tremendous progress in deploying its hydrocarbon resources in order to penetrate in the international market and present itself as a financially stable nation in the international market. Further to the increase in the international operations by the countries in the Middle East and the Far East, the Bank for International Settlements developed a framework to co-ordinate the international financial operations as well as create a portfolio for the capital measurement and capital standards which every nation involving in international banking operations is expected to adopt in order to stabilise and put in order the international transactions between countries. The Basel II accord produced by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision aims at achieving International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards. The arrangement aims to set a minimum standard to be met by its participating nations in order to achieve capital adequacy by the participating nations in the international market. This report aims at analysing the effects of Basel II accord on Qatar’s banking sector. The objectives of this report are stated below: To analyse the Basel II accord and it’s framework for measuring capital adequacy in the nations participating in the international banking transaction. To investigate the banking sector of Qatar and the effect of Basel II accord on its international operations and capital adequacy. To analyse the effect of Basel II accord on the nation’s two major banks having international operations in Qatar namely, Qatar Industrial Development Bank (QIDB) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) and to analyse the impact of Basel II Accord on the Banking Sector of Qatar. Report Outline: The report comprises of the following chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the objectives of the report and presents a broad picture of the report to the reader. Chapter 2: Overview of Basel II Accord This chapter presents with an overview of the Basel II accord. The three pillars of Basel II accord namely Minimum Capital Requirements, Supervisory Review Process and Market Discipline are analysed in detail to provide the reader with a detailed understanding of the consent of Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Chapter 3: Implications and Critical Analysis of Basel II Accord The literature review on the Basel II Accord in chapter 2 is followed by the critical analysis and its implications on nations (business and political) are presented to the reader before proceeding to present the overview of the Qatar Banking sector.    Chapter 4: Overview of Qatar and its Banking Sector This chapter presents the reader with an overview of Qatar as a nation and its business operations in the International market. Alongside, the chapter analyses the country’s growth in the banking sector and its internationally active banks. Chapter 5: Case Study This chapter conducts a case study analysis on Qatar’s two internationally active banks namely Qatar Industrial Development Bank (QIDB) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ). The effect of Basel II accord on the banks along with an overview of the bank is presented to the reader. The data used to present the case study is primarily obtained from secondary sources like journals, reports and white papers. This is apparently due the fact that the analysis is conducted on a foreign nation as well as the data available from the secondary sources are also reliable as they are published by legitimate organizations and popular journals.   Chapter 6: Results and Discussions The results of the case study analysis and discussions are carried out in this chapter. This chapter aims to present a clearer picture to the reader on the effects of the Basel II accord on the banks analysed. Chapter 7:   Conclusion and Recommendations The conclusions derived from the case results and discussions on the case study and the overall conclusion on the effect of Basel I accord on the Qatar Banking Sector is presented in this chapter. Alongside, this chapter presents a few constructive recommendations based on the results and discussion on the case study. Chapter 2: Overview of Basel II Accord This chapter begins with an overview of the Bank for International Settlements followed by a detailed analysis of the Basel II accord. The Basel II committee is also analysed alongside in order to provide a deeper insight to the readers. 2.1 Bank for International Settlements Overview and it’s Operations The Bank for International Settlements (Bank for International Settlements) is an international organization looking after international monetary and financial co-operation across the globe. This organization acts as the bank for all the central banks of countries participating in the international finance and banking. The Bank for International Settlements profile states that the bank achieves the aforementioned statement through acting as A forum to promote discussion and facilitate decision-making processes among central banks and within the international financial and supervisory community. A centre for economic and monetary research A prime counter party for central banks in their financial transactions and Agent or trustee in connection with international financial operations. Established in 17th Many 1930, it is the oldest financial organization at the international level. The Bank for International Settlements has three major decision making bodies within the bank to achieve its mission. They are The general meeting of member central banks This meeting is held before the end of four months of the end of the banks annual financial year. The meeting addresses all the issues related to business and the member central banks gather to approve the annual financial statement released by the bank. The Board of Directors The board of directors comprise the central bank governors elected from various participating countries. They monitor the overall operation of the bank and take responsibility for actions to be taken and address issues related to disputes and other major international financial cross border problems. The Management Committee The management committee is the first line representative of the Bank for International Settlements and addresses the day-to-day activities of the bank. This committee primarily manages the monetary and financial co-operation services. The services include Meetings: Apart from the Annual general meeting the Bank for International Settlements organizes meetings on a bimonthly basis. This meeting brings the member central banks together with the aim of monitoring the global economic and financial development and discusses issues on its policies in relation to the monetary and financial stability. Committees and Secretariats Bank for International Settlements has several committees to monitor specific problems and issues in the international finance and cross border loans. Alongside, several other committees and organizations focusing on international financial systems have their secretariats in the Bank for International Settlements and work closely with the bank in order to enhance the overall international banking and cross border finance. Basel committee of the Bank for International Settlements is the committee that laid the specifications for capital measurement and capital standard of the central banks participating in the international banking. Research and Statistics: In order to support its meetings and the activities of the organization’s Basel based committees the Bank for International Settlements carries out regular research on economic, monetary, financial and legal areas of the international banking and cross border finance. Investment services for central banks: Bank for International Settlements also provides security, liquidity and return for its central bank members. The three primary points with respect to this identified by the organization are To provide security, the Bank has built up a sizeable equity capital and ample reserves. It pursues an investment strategy focused on combining diversification benefits with intensive credit and market risk analysis. To ensure liquidity, the Bank stands ready to repurchase its tradable instruments at little cost to its customers and thus respond quickly and flexibly to their needs. The BIS offers an attractive and competitive return on the funds deposited by central banks and international organisations The Bank for International Settlements focuses on serving the financial needs of central banks of the member countries. Alongside, it also acts as a banker managing the funds for numerous international financial institutions. 2.2: Basel committee Overview The Basel committee was established the member central banks of the Bank for International Settlements in order to create a standard for the international banking and capital framework for crass border finance and lending. The committee was initially set up in 1970 and meets regularly four times a year to discuss the progress in international banking and address issues related to business in this context. The member nations of the committee include Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. The country’s central bank and financial institutions that are not active in banking commercially but monitor the financial operations of the nation both at national and international levels represent the nations. The committee does no possess any authority over its member nations banking systems and the decisions of the committee are never intended to have a legal force on its member nations. The Central bank governors of the Group ten countries endorse the committee’s major initiatives. Also the committee reports to the group ten countries central bank governors. The committee first proposed he capital measurement system in 1988 commonly referred to as ‘Basel Capital Accord’. The committee aims in supervising the international banking operations of the nations across the globe. The decisions of the committee endorsed by the group ten countries address various financial issues in the international market outside the groups as well. The major aim of the committee is the ‘close the gaps in international supervisory coverage’ and to ensure that no foreign banking systems escapes the supervision in order to establish a harmony among the member nations of the Bank for International Settlements as well as in the international market. The committee has promoted supervisory standards in the past few years. Some of its major milestones include the following 1997: Cover Principles for effective banking supervision 1999: Core Principles methodology The committee also presented the Basel II accord with revision on international capital framework. This aims to standardise the capital framework of every bank participating in the international banking as well as sets slabs for minimum capital holdings to be met by the banks in order to qualify for international operations. The committee has numerous subgroups to perform specific tasks of the committee in order to achieve the overall motto of the committee. They are listed below Accord Implementation Group Accounting Task Force Capital Group Capital Task Force Core Principles Liaison Group (with 16 non-G10 countries) Cross-Border Banking Group Electronic Banking Group Joint Forum (with IAIS and IOSCO) Joint IOSCO BCBS Working Group on Trading Book Research Task Force Risk Management Group Securitisation Group Transparency Group The next section provides a detailed analysis of the Basel II accord and its various implications on international banking is discussed in chapter 3. 2.3 The Basel II Accord The Basel II accord was released in June 2004 further to the release of the Basel Accord in 2003. The Basel II is a revised edition of the initial Basel capital accord. It is a framework designed to derive the capital holdings of internationally active banks to meet the international standards and sets a minimum level of capital holding which is a primary criteria for the banks. The Basel II framework is aimed to be applied on a consolidated basis over internationally active banks in order to preserve the integrity of capital in the banks with subsidiaries. Also the framework eliminates the double gearing through this approach. The Basel II accord’s framework is also applied on a fully consolidated basis on any parent holding company which acts as a parent entity within a banking group in order to capture the risk on a consolidated basis without missing any element that contributes considerably to the risk of the overall banking system. Alongside, the framework is also applicable to all internationally active banks at every tier of the banking group. Apart from the aforementioned statements one of the principal objectives of the Basel II Accord is to protect the interest of the depositors essentially to ensure that capital recognised capital adequacy measures is readily available for the depositors. Apparently, these measures are aimed to establish a common platform for international banking and cross border finance across the globe. The scope of application extends to the following segments of the international banking and finance entities. Banking, securities and other financial subsidiaries Significant minority investments in banking securities Insurance entities Significant investment in commercial entities. Deduction of investment pursuant to this part The aforementioned entities are obtained from the Basel Committee report on International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, published in June 2004. The Basel II accord overview is based on this report. The illustration in the fig 1 gives a clear picture of the overall scope of application of the Basel II accord. The Basel II accord is split into three pillars. The first Pillar: Minimum Capital Requirements This is the very important pillar of the Basel II Accord. This pillar has very clear definitions of the Accord’s application on the credit risks and operational risk along with the Trading Book issues that are vital for international banking establishment. The layout in fig 2 reproduced from the Basel II report provides the inner picture of the First Pillar. The following subsections provide a detailed analysis on the elements shown in fig 2. 2.4: The First Pillar The First pillar lays down the minimum capital requirements that every internationally active bank should incorporate.   It is split into the following subsection. 2.4.1:   Calculation of Minimum capital requirements The minimum capital requirement is calculated as a measure of the capital ration. The capital ratio in turn is calculated using the regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets. The requirement of this criterion is that the capital ration must be a minimum of 8% or more in order to be eligible for the international activities. Also, in case of a two tier system the capital in tier 2 must not be greater than the tier 1 capital (i.e.) the tier 2 capital can be a maximum of 100% of the tier 1 capital. The capital is accounted from the following sources    Regulatory capital: The minimum accounting capital requirements for the financial institution encompasses the regulatory capital. The Basel II accord has withdrawn the provision to include general provisions in tire 2 capital, which was in effect in the 1988 Accord under the Internal Ratings-Based (IRB) approach.   Furthermore the accord has lain down that the banks using the Internal Ratings Based approach to their other assets mu st compare the amount of total eligible provision with the total expected losses amount to the bank. This eventually increases the capital holding of the bank in order to meet the criteria. Risk Weighted Assets: The Basel II Accord calculates the total risk-weighted assets by multiplying the capital requirement for market risk and operational risk by the reciprocal of the minimum capital ratio of 8% and adding the resulting value to the sum of risk weighted assets for credit risk. Even though this is subject to review the approach lays enormous burden on the bank to increase its minimum capital holdings. Apparently the Basel II Accord is aiming to establish that the internationally active banks must have enough capital to meet its short comings without depending on loans and cross border finance to address its immediate requirements and short comings. The idea though being novel is very intense for the banks to maintain the required minimum capital. Transitional Arrangements: The Accord has also stated that the banks following the Internal Ratings-Based approach or the Advanced Measurements Approach (AMA) that there will be a capital floor after the implementation of the Basel II framework. The adjustment factors used in both the internal ratings-based approach and the advanced measurements approach for calculating the capital floor as per the definition of the Basel II framework is shown in fig 3 below. 2.4.2: Credit Risk-The Standardised Approach Under this method the Basel committee provides the internationally active banks a choice for calculating their capital requirements for credit risk. The first approach is the standardised method of measuring the credit risk through support from external credit assessments. This method is approved by the Basel committee while the other method is yet to explicitly approved by the committee. Under the alternate method of calculating the credit risk, the bank supervisor can allow banks to use their internal rating systems for calculating the credit risk. Under both the methodologies one should not oversee the fact that the Basel committee is very keen in assessing the credit risk on the capital holdings of the internationally active banks. Even though this is appreciated, the rules are very stringent making it very difficult for the banks for adopt easily. 2.4.3 Credit Risk- Internal Ratings Based Approach The Basel II committee has given supervisory approval for banks to use the Internal Ratings-Based approach to determine their capital requirement for a given exposure subject to certain minimum conditions and disclosure requirements. The risk components considered include Measures of the probability of default (PD), Loss given default (LGD), The exposure at default (EAD), Effective maturity (M) The Basel II accord states that â€Å"The Internal Ratings Based Approach is based on the measure of unexpected loses (UL) and Expected Loses (EL). Under the Internal Ratings Based Approach, the committee expects the bank to categories their exposures in order to identify the different underlying risk characteristics. The categories include corporate, sovereign, bank, retail and equity. These are identified as the corporate asset classes and the approach further expects the bank to identify the subclasses associated with the asset classes in order to measure the credit risk associated with the exposure. The detailed analysis of every corporate class and its associated subclasses is beyond the scope of this report. In essence the Internal Ratings Based Approach gives the bank more liberty to calculate its credit-risk on the minimum capital requirement for a given exposure. But the producers laid by the Basel II Accord is very tedious to adopt and implement for every corporate class exposure and identifying the subclasses associated. 2.4.4: Credit Risk- Securitisation Framework The Basel Committee in its revised accord, has made it mandatory for the banks to apply the Securitisation Framework for determining regulatory capital requirements on exposure arising from traditional and synthetic Securitisation or similar structures that contain features common to both.   The Basel II accord also states that the capital treatment of the Securitisation exposure must be determined on the basis of the economic substance rather than the legal form of the structure. It is apparent that the securities can be structured in many different ways and the committee has approved the use of either the traditional Securitisation or the synthetic Securitisation framework. Also the Basel II accord expects the supervisor to look at the economic substance of transaction in order to determine whether it should be subject to Securitisation framework or not. This gives the discretionary power to the supervisor to decide on a specific transaction whether to include it in the framework or to eliminate it from the framework towards determining the regulatory capital framework. The traditional Securitisation and the synthetic Securitisation framework are discussed below. Traditional Securitisation: The Basel II Accord defines the traditional framework as â€Å"a structure where the cash flow from an underlying pool of exposures is used to service at least two different stratified risk positions or tranches reflecting different degrees of credit risk†. The advantage with this approach is that the payment to the investors is based on the performance of the specified underlying exposures rather than a derivation from an obligation of the entity originating those exposures. Synthetic Securitisation â€Å"A synthetic Securitisation is a structure with at least two different stratified risk positions or tranches that reflect different degrees of credit risk where credit risk of an underlying pool of exposures is transferred, in whole or in part, through the use of funded (e.g. credit-linked notes) or un-funded (e.g. credit default swaps) credit derivatives or guarantees that serve to hedge the credit risk of the portfolio†. This approach leaves the return to the investors in the hands of the performance of the underlying pool. Apparently, the risk associated is higher since the performance can be affected by numerous causes. From the above-mentioned approaches the Basel II accord’s stand for evaluating the capital and minimum capital requirements are evident. 2.4.5: Operational Risk The operational risk is defined by the Basel Committee as the risk associated with the loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, systems or external events. This includes the legal risk with the exclusion of strategic and reputational risk. The Basel II Accord has approved three methods for calculating the operational risk and risk sensitivity with the implications on minimum capital requirements. They are: (i) The Basic indicator approach, (ii) the Standardised Approach and (iii) Advanced Measurement Approach. Basic Indicator Approach: In this case the banks should hold capital for the operational risk equal to the average over the past three years of a fixed percentage. This is expressed as a formula below KBIA = [ÃŽ £ (GI1†¦n x ÃŽ ±)]/n Where KBIA = the capital charge under the Basic Indicator Approach GI = annual gross income, where positive, over the previous three years n = number of the previous three years for which gross income is positive ÃŽ ± = 15%, which is set by the Committee, relating the industry wide level of required capital to the industry wide level of the indicator. This formula is obtained from the Basel II accord for the purpose of reader understanding. Standardised Approach: The standardised approach divides the bank’s activities into eight-business lines namely corporate finance, trading sales, retail banking, commercial banking, payment settlement, agency services, asset management, and retail brokerage. The likelihood of operational risk exposure is calculated from the gross income associated with each business line that serves as an indicator for the scale of business operations by the bank in that specific area of business or business line. This approach is very clumsy since the gross income associated with the business line varies due to numerous reasons both internal and external. Advanced Measurement Approach: The Advanced Measurement Approach equates the regulatory capital requirement with the risk measure generated by the bank’s internal operational risk measurement system using quantitative and qualitative criteria. The banks can use this method only after the approval by the Committee. The Basel II Accord sets the approach for the banks based on their international activity and significant operational risk exposures. Also, when a bank agrees to use a more sophisticated method, it cannot revert back to the easier method without approval from the supervisor. This eventually increases the burden on the banks to choose a sophisticated method. 2.4.6: Trading Book Issues The final segment of the first pillar is the trading book. Basel Committee defines the trading book as a container of both the financial instruments and commodities held either with trading intent or in order to hedge other elements of the trading book. The trading book forms a vital element for the bank since it is the record of the bank’s financial instruments as well as commodities. The Basel II Accord identifies four key principles for the supervisory process. They are listed below. The basic requirements for the eligibility to trading book capital treatment put forth by the Basel II Accord are as follows Clearly documented trading strategy for the position/instrument or portfolios, approved by senior management (which would include expected holding horizon). Clearly defined policies and procedures for the active management of the position Clearly defined policy and procedures to monitor the positions against the bank’s trading strategy including the monitoring of turnover and stale positions in the bank’s trading book 2.3: The Second Pillar- Supervisory Review Process Basel committee was initially set up for the supervising the internationally active banks and produce a common platform for the smooth transactions and cross border finance. The Basel II Accord has established Supervisory Process as one of the three pillars in order to emphasise its stand on supervisory process. The importance of supervisory process is described below. 2.3.1: Importance of Supervisory Process The supervisory review process of the Basel II Accord aims not only to ensure that banks have adequate capital to support all the risks in their business but also intends to encourage the banks to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing risks. Alongside, the supervisory process by developing internal capital assessment process and setting capital targets that are commensurate with the bank’s risk profile recognises the importance for bank management in order to improve the atmosphere in the international banking and cross border finance. The Supervisory process evaluates the relationship between the amount of capital held by the bank against the risk, strength and effectiveness of the bank’s risk management eventually guiding the bank and supervising its activities in order to improve the performance of the banks in the international business market and cross border finance. 2.3.2 Four Key Principles of the supervisory review The four key principles identified by the Basel II Accord on the supervisory process is listed below. These principles emphasise on the committee’s focus on supervision and its aim to maintain harmony in the international banking and cross border finance. Principle 1: Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for maintaining their capital levels. Principle 2: Supervisors should review and evaluate banks’ internal capital adequacy assessments and strategies, as well as their ability to monitor and ensure their compliance with regulatory capital ratios. Supervisors should take appropriate supervisory action if they are not satisfied with the result of this process. Principle 3: Supervisors should expect banks to operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to require banks to hold capital in excess of the minimum. Principle 4: Supervisors should seek to intervene at an early stage to prevent capital from falling below the minimum levels required to support the risk characteristics of a particular bank and should require rapid remedial action if capital is not maintained or restored. 2.3.3: Issues to be addressed There are two specific issues to be addressed by the Supervisory-Review Process. They are Interest Rate Risk in the Banking book: Since it is clear that the Basel Committee’s primary focus is on identifying and preventing risk in the international b